Call them on it, Mr. Cuomo

Our opinion: The governor should use the spotlight of the State of the State to expose the Senate Republicans broken promise on independent redistricting, and persuade them to honor their word.

When state Senate Republicans were asking voters in 2010 to restore their majority, they unanimously and unambiguously promised to support creating an independent body to draw new legislative district lines. Even the most casual observer of state government might have rightly asked, “What’s the catch?”

It turns out the catch was as obvious, not to mention cynical, as any escape clause one could imagine: They lied.

That’s not a word we like to use. But there is simply no parsing such outright deceit.

Normally, legislators’ lies are between them and their constituents. But when they’re practiced by an entire legislative conference — one that controls a chamber, no less, and thus the ability to pass bills — it stains the institution of government and affects all citizens.

Governor Cuomo still has a chance to try to repair that damage when he delivers his State of the State address on Wednesday. He should call on the Senate Republicans to honor their word, and challenge them to accept redistricting by an independent entity.

The Republicans made this promise with much fanfare in the 2010 campaign. It was no insignificant matter in a state where lawmakers have long been able to effectively choose their own constituents. They signed a pledge to support independent redistricting put forward by a group called NY Uprising, spearheaded by former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.

But no sooner did they regain control of the Senate than the conference started weaseling out of its pledge. It seems these lawmakers, many in power for years, had suddenly discovered that the state constitution gives the power of drawing districts to the Legislature.

Anyone familiar with redistricting knows that, but the Republican conference put a new twist on it: Delegating that responsibility to an independent group, they claimed, would violate the constitution.

Never mind that a legislative vote to accept an independent commission’s work would meet the constitutional requirement. No, the GOP senators insisted, the only solution is a constitutional amendment ­— a time-consuming process that would keep the authority of incumbents intact for now. The soonest we would see an independent process would be after the 2020 census, for legislators to be seated in 2023.

We don’t buy it for a minute: not the legal argument, not the delay and certainly not this alleged post-election revelation.

To be sure, the Democrats who run the Assembly aren’t putting up much of a fight over this. Little wonder; any independent process removes their ability to gerrymander districts to protect their individual members, too. But since Democrats outnumber Republicans in this state by almost 2 to 1, the Assembly majority has less to lose from a fair redistricting process.

No, make no mistake: The breach of trust started with Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his colleagues, and they have the ability to repair it.

Time, though, runs short. Campaign season is nearing. The Legislature’s redistricting task force is said to be at impasse, quite likely because behind-the-scenes political agendas are holding up the public’s business.

Mr. Cuomo could, of course, veto an unacceptable redistricting plan. But that could put the process into the hands of the courts, with the outcome unclear. This is a task legislators should be able to handle.

So why not try, one more time, to get the Legislature to do this right? We’ve urged Mr. Cuomo before to spend some of his ample political capital on this, and we do so again. A strong and unequivocal statement from the governor, on the day that all lawmakers and many citizens are paying attention, would be a solid and praiseworthy follow-up to a first year in which Mr. Cuomo did much to restore state government’s image.

5 Responses

It’s all about maintaining power, regardless of party. The Republicans however have made an art of it, especially on the national level. It’s too bad most of these politicians have forgotten why they were elected in the first place…to serve the people. Not themselves,not the party,not the high powered corporate interests who contibute to their campaign. John R.

The only time liberals and democrats want compromise and cooperation, is when it is to their advantage. This article is hypocrisy at it’s finest. I would bet my last dollar that if it was the democrats still in charge of the Senate, the TU would be silent.

The only redistricting that would be truly fair would be a computer-genererated district plan that is based solely on population, with no gerrymandered districts by race or political party. Any other plan is a joke.